Proglacial Lakes Elevate Glacier Surface Velocities in the Himalayan Region

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Bouke Pronk ◽  
Tobias Bolch ◽  
Owen King ◽  
Bert Wouters ◽  
Douglas Benn
Keyword(s):  
Flow Line ◽  
Surface Velocity ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Mass Losses ◽  
Himalayan Glaciers ◽  
Large Heterogeneity ◽  
Glacier Flow ◽  
The Ganges ◽  
Sentinel 2

<p>Meltwater from Himalayan glaciers sustains the flow of rivers such as the Ganges and Brahmaputra on which over half a billion people depend for day-to-day needs. Upstream areas are likely to be affected substantially by climate change, and changes in the magnitude and timing of meltwater supply are likely to occur in coming decades. About 10 % of the Himalayan glacier population terminates into pro-glacial lakes and such lake-terminating glaciers are known to be capable of accelerating total mass losses. However, relatively little is known about the mechanisms driving exacerbated ice loss from lake-terminating glaciers in the Himalaya. Here we examine a 2017-2019 glacier surface velocity dataset, derived from Sentinel 2 imagery, covering most of the Central and Eastern Himalayan glaciers larger than 3 km<sup>2</sup>. We find that centre flow line velocities of lake-terminating glaciers are more than double those of land-terminating glaciers (18.8 vs 8.24 m yr<sup>-1</sup>) and show substantially more heterogeneity around glacier termini. We attribute this large heterogeneity to the varying influence of lakes on glacier dynamics, resulting in differential rates of dynamic thinning, which effects about half of the clean-ice lake-terminating glacier population. Also, numerical ice-flow model experiments suggest that changes at the frontal boundary condition can play a key role in accelerating the glacier flow at the front. With continued warming new lake development is likely to happen and will further accelerate future ice mass losses, a scenario not currently considered in regional projections. </p>

scholarly journals Proglacial Lakes Elevate Glacier Surface Velocities in the Himalayan Region

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Bouke Pronk ◽  
Tobias Bolch ◽  
Owen King ◽  
Bert Wouters ◽  
Douglas I. Benn
Keyword(s):  
Flow Line ◽  
Surface Velocity ◽  
Glacial Lakes ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Himalayan Glaciers ◽  
Large Heterogeneity ◽  
Glacier Flow ◽  
The Ganges ◽  
Sentinel 2

Abstract. Meltwater from Himalayan glaciers sustains the flow of rivers such as the Ganges and Brahmaputra on which over half a billion people depend for day-to-day needs. Upstream areas are likely to be affected substantially by climate change, and changes in the magnitude and timing of meltwater supply are likely to occur in coming decades. About 10 % of the Himalayan glacier population terminates into pro-glacial lakes and such lake-terminating glaciers are known to exhibit higher than average total mass losses. However, relatively little is known about the mechanisms driving exacerbated ice loss from lake-terminating glaciers in the Himalaya. Here we examine a composite (2017–2019) glacier surface velocity dataset, derived from Sentinel 2 imagery, covering Central and Eastern Himalayan glaciers larger than 3 km2. We find that centre flow line velocities of lake-terminating glaciers are more than double those of land-terminating glaciers (18.8 vs 8.24 m yr−1) and show substantially more heterogeneity around glacier termini. We attribute this large heterogeneity to the varying influence of lakes on glacier dynamics, resulting in differential rates of dynamic thinning, which effects about half of the clean-ice lake-terminating glacier population. Numerical ice-flow model experiments show that changes at the frontal boundary condition are likely to play a key role in accelerating the glacier flow at the front, with variations in basal friction only being of modest importance. The expansion of current glacial lakes, and the formation of new meltwater bodies will influence the dynamics of an increasing number of Himalayan glaciers in the future; a scenario not currently considered in regional ice loss projections.

scholarly journals Contrasting surface velocities between lake- and land-terminating glaciers in the Himalayan region

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. 5577-5599
Author(s):  
Jan Bouke Pronk ◽  
Tobias Bolch ◽  
Owen King ◽  
Bert Wouters ◽  
Douglas I. Benn
Keyword(s):  
Flow Line ◽  
Force Balance ◽  
Surface Velocity ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Himalayan Glaciers ◽  
Large Heterogeneity ◽  
Glacier Flow ◽  
The Ganges ◽  
Sentinel 2

Abstract. Meltwater from Himalayan glaciers sustains the flow of rivers such as the Ganges and Brahmaputra on which over half a billion people depend for day-to-day needs. Upstream areas are likely to be affected substantially by climate change, and changes in the magnitude and timing of meltwater supply are expected to occur in coming decades. About 10 % of the Himalayan glacier population terminates into proglacial lakes, and such lake-terminating glaciers are known to exhibit higher-than-average total mass losses. However, relatively little is known about the mechanisms driving exacerbated ice loss from lake-terminating glaciers in the Himalaya. Here we examine a composite (2017–2019) glacier surface velocity dataset, derived from Sentinel 2 imagery, covering central and eastern Himalayan glaciers larger than 3 km2. We find that centre flow line velocities of lake-terminating glaciers (N = 70; umedian: 18.83 m yr−1; IQR – interquartile range – uncertainty estimate: 18.55–19.06 m yr−1) are on average more than double those of land-terminating glaciers (N = 249; umedian: 8.24 m yr−1; IQR uncertainty estimate: 8.17–8.35 m yr−1) and show substantially more heterogeneity than land-terminating glaciers around glacier termini. We attribute this large heterogeneity to the varying influence of lakes on glacier dynamics, resulting in differential rates of dynamic thinning, which causes about half of the lake-terminating glacier population to accelerate towards the glacier termini. Numerical ice-flow model experiments show that changes in the force balance at the glacier termini are likely to play a key role in accelerating the glacier flow at the front, with variations in basal friction only being of modest importance. The expansion of current glacial lakes and the formation of new meltwater bodies will influence the dynamics of an increasing number of Himalayan glaciers in the future, and these factors should be carefully considered in regional projections.

scholarly journals Are longitudinal ice-surface structures on the Antarctic Ice Sheet indicators of long-term ice-flow configuration?

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 911-933 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. F. Glasser ◽  
S. J. A. Jennings ◽  
M. J. Hambrey ◽  
B. Hubbard
Keyword(s):  
Flow Line ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Surface Structures ◽  
Surface Velocity ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Antarctic Ice Sheet ◽  
Ice Surface ◽  
Ice Stream ◽  
The Antarctic

Abstract. Continent-wide mapping of longitudinal ice-surface structures on the Antarctic Ice Sheet reveals that they originate in the interior of the ice sheet and are arranged in arborescent networks fed by multiple tributaries. Longitudinal ice-surface structures can be traced continuously down-ice for distances of up to 1200 km. They are co-located with fast-flowing glaciers and ice streams that are dominated by basal sliding rates above tens of m yr-1 and are strongly guided by subglacial topography. Longitudinal ice-surface structures dominate regions of converging flow, where ice flow is subject to non-coaxial strain and simple shear. Associating these structures with the AIS' surface velocity field reveals (i) ice residence times of ~ 2500 to 18 500 years, and (ii) undeformed flow-line sets for all major flow units analysed except the Kamb Ice Stream and the Institute and Möller Ice Stream areas. Although it is unclear how long it takes for these features to form and decay, we infer that the major ice-flow and ice-velocity configuration of the ice sheet may have remained largely unchanged for several thousand years, and possibly even since the end of the last glacial cycle. This conclusion has implications for our understanding of the long-term landscape evolution of Antarctica, including large-scale patterns of glacial erosion and deposition.

scholarly journals SenDiT: The Sentinel-2 Displacement Toolbox with Application to Glacier Surface Velocities

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1151
Author(s):  
Teodor Nagy ◽  
Liss M. Andreassen ◽  
Robert A. Duller ◽  
Pablo J. Gonzalez
Keyword(s):  
Feature Tracking ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Satellite Images ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Displacement Maps ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Changes ◽  
Glacier Velocity ◽  
Glacier Flow ◽  
Sentinel 2A ◽  
Sentinel 2

Satellite imagery represents a unique opportunity to quantify the spatial and temporal changes of glaciers world-wide. Glacier velocity has been measured from repeat satellite scenes for decades now, yet a range of satellite missions, feature tracking programs, and user approaches have made it a laborious task. To date, there has been no tool developed that would allow a user to obtain displacement maps of any specified glacier simply by establishing the key temporal, spatial and feature tracking parameters. This work presents the application and development of a unique, semi-automatic, open-source, flexible processing toolbox for the retrieval of displacement maps with a focus on obtaining glacier surface velocities. SenDiT combines the download, pre-processing, feature tracking, and postprocessing of the highest resolution Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2B satellite images into a semi-automatic toolbox, leaving a user with a set of rasterized and georeferenced glacier flow magnitude and direction maps for their further analyses. The solution is freely available and is tailored so that non-glaciologists and people with limited geographic information system (GIS) knowledge can also benefit from it. The system can be used to provide both regional and global sets of ice velocities. The system was tested and applied on a range of glaciers in mainland Norway, Iceland, Greenland and New Zealand. It was also tested on areas of stable terrain in Libya and Australia, where sources of error involved in the feature tracking using Sentinel-2 imagery are thoroughly described and quantified.

scholarly journals MONITORING SUB-WEEKLY EVOLUTION OF SURFACE VELOCITY AND ELEVATION FOR A HIGH-LATITUDE SURGING GLACIER USING SENTINEL-2

2019 ◽  
Vol XLII-2/W13 ◽  
pp. 1723-1727 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Altena ◽  
O. N. Haga ◽  
C. Nuth ◽  
A. Kääb
Keyword(s):  
Field Of View ◽  
Surface Velocity ◽  
Large Field ◽  
Operational Mode ◽  
Elevation Change ◽  
Elevation Data ◽  
Polar Day ◽  
Glacier Flow ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Sentinel 2

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Currently, the Sentinel-2 twin satellite constellation of the Copernicus program is in operational mode and generates high repeat acquisitions at high-latitudes during polar day. These pushbroom satellites have a large field-of-view and are therefore ideal for simultaneous extraction of glacier displacement and elevation data. In this study we showcase the capabilities of this system set-up by generating time-series of glacier flow and elevation change over Negribreen, a tidewater glacier in Svalbard which nowadays is in its surge phase.</p>

scholarly journals Modelling mass balance using photogrammetric and geophysical data: a pilot study at Griesgletscher, Swiss Alps

1999 ◽  
Vol 45 (151) ◽  
pp. 575-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Kääb ◽  
Martin Funk
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
Surface Strain ◽  
Swiss Alps ◽  
Surface Velocity ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Applied Model ◽  
Ice Velocity

AbstractThe kinematic boundary condition al the glacier surface can be used to give glacier mass balance at a point as a function of changes in the surface elevation, and of the horizontal and vertical velocities. Vertical velocity can in turn be estimated from basal slope, basal ice velocity and surface strain. In a pilot study on the tongue of Griesgletscher, Swiss Alps, the applicability of the relation for modelling area-wide ice flow and mass-balance distribution is tested. The key input of the calculations, i.e. the area-wide surface velocity field, is obtained using a newly developed photogrammetric technique. Ice thickness is derived from radar-echo soundings. Error estimates and comparisons with stake measurements show an average accuracy of approximately ±0.3 ma-1for the calculated vertical ice velocity at the surface and ±0.7 ma-1for the calculated mass balance. Due to photogrammetric restrictions and model-inherent sensitivities the applied model appeared to be most suitable for determining area-wide mass balance and ice flow on flat-lying ablation areas, but is so far not very well suited for steep ablation areas and most parts of accumulation areas. Nevertheless, the study on Griesgletscher opens a new and promising perspective for the monitoring of spatial and temporal glacier mass-balance variations.

scholarly journals Ice Flow Leading to the Deep Core Hole at Dye 3, Greenland

1984 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 185-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. M. Whillans ◽  
K. C. Jezek ◽  
A. R. Drew ◽  
N. Gundestrup
Keyword(s):  
Flow Line ◽  
Surface Velocity ◽  
Surface Pattern ◽  
Ice Thickness ◽  
Surface Slope ◽  
Core Hole ◽  
Lateral Velocity ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
The Core ◽  
Surface Ice

Detailed studies of the last 20 km of the flow-line leading to the core hole at Dye 3 Greenland, provide a description of ice flow over and around basal hills. The surface pattern is very simple. Velocity vectors are nearly parallel to one another and the largest variations in velocity are speed changes along the direction of flow. The surface elevation is stepped and the speed is faster than average where the surface slope is steepest. These positions correspond to basal highs, and the surface velocity increases as expected, based on the decrease in ice thickness, which indicates that most of the ice thickness must vary in velocity as does surface ice. Further support for this comes from the form of an internal radio-reflecting layer, which, in general, has the same shape as the bed but with much reduced relief. The damping of the relief is the same both along and across the flowline, suggesting that lateral velocity fluctuations are not important and that flow around and between obstacles is not well developed at the surface or at depth. At two sites, however, the internal layer does not match the bed and at one of these there must be important third-dimensional flow at depth.

scholarly journals Spatio-temporal variations in glacier surface velocity in the Himalayas

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Zhou ◽  
Jianlong Chen ◽  
Xiao Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Mass Loss ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Surface Velocity ◽  
Glacier Surface ◽  
Environmental Forcing ◽  
Landsat 7 ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Velocity Changes ◽  
Glacier Velocity ◽  
Glacier Flow

Abstract. Glacier evolution with time provides important information about climate variability. Here we investigate glacier surface velocity in the Himalayas and analyse the patterns of glacier flow. We collect 220 scenes of Landsat-7 panchromatic images between 1999 and 2000, and Sentinel-2 panchromatic images between 2017 and 2018, to calculate surface velocities of 36,722 glaciers during these two periods. We then derive velocity changes between 1999 and 2018, based on which we perform a detailed analysis of motion of each individual glacier, and noted that the changes are spatially heterogeneous. Of all the glaciers, 32 % have speeded up, 24.5 % have slowed down, and the rest 43.5 % remained stable. The amplitude of glacier slowdown, as a result of glacier mass loss, is remarkably larger than that of speedup. At regional scales, we found that glacier surface velocity in winter has uniformly decreased in the western part of the Himalayas between 1999 and 2018, whilst increased in the eastern part; this contrasting difference may be associated with decadal changes in accumulation and/or melting under different climatic regimes. We also found that the overall trend of surface velocity exhibits seasonal variability: summer velocity changes are positively correlated with mass loss, whereas winter velocity changes show a negative correlation. Our study suggests that glacier velocity changes in the Himalayas are more spatially and temporally heterogeneous than previously thought, emphasising complex interactions between glacier dynamics and environmental forcing.

scholarly journals Ice Flow Leading to the Deep Core Hole at Dye 3, Greenland

1984 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 185-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. M. Whillans ◽  
K. C. Jezek ◽  
A. R. Drew ◽  
N. Gundestrup
Keyword(s):  
Flow Line ◽  
Surface Velocity ◽  
Surface Pattern ◽  
Ice Thickness ◽  
Surface Slope ◽  
Core Hole ◽  
Lateral Velocity ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
The Core ◽  
Surface Ice

Detailed studies of the last 20 km of the flow-line leading to the core hole at Dye 3 Greenland, provide a description of ice flow over and around basal hills. The surface pattern is very simple. Velocity vectors are nearly parallel to one another and the largest variations in velocity are speed changes along the direction of flow. The surface elevation is stepped and the speed is faster than average where the surface slope is steepest. These positions correspond to basal highs, and the surface velocity increases as expected, based on the decrease in ice thickness, which indicates that most of the ice thickness must vary in velocity as does surface ice. Further support for this comes from the form of an internal radio-reflecting layer, which, in general, has the same shape as the bed but with much reduced relief. The damping of the relief is the same both along and across the flowline, suggesting that lateral velocity fluctuations are not important and that flow around and between obstacles is not well developed at the surface or at depth. At two sites, however, the internal layer does not match the bed and at one of these there must be important third-dimensional flow at depth.

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